Daisy Love

When I see a cluster of daisies adorning the grass around our driveway, I know that summer is on its way.

There is something so beautiful and so familiar in these humble little plants. They evoke so many happy memories of summer: weaving daisy-chains outside the high school in-between games of rounders, picnics in the park with friends as we wait for our buses after work, soaking up the sun in the breezy lush grass of our fields, lazy family strolls along the shore road with our dogs - the list goes on.

And there is further beauty to be found among the speckled spots of yellow and white. Though they are shadowed beneath the bold and bountiful summer produce blooming in our gardens at this time of year and though they are ruthlessly trampled underfoot like the dirt in which they grow, these little "weeds", as we call them, continue to blossom and thrive - embellishing everything with cheerful yellow spots on a soft white blanket.  Daisies do not care where they are planted and they do not care what bigger and better things they are planted with, they simply grow and grow and make everything they touch that little more beautiful.

I think I'd like to be a little more like a daisy.

Things I'd Tell My Younger Self

Hello everyone.

Inspiration can come from some strange places and this post's inspiration came from the last annual high school awards ceremony I'll be a part of that took place this Thursday. As I sat in formal dress of my choice-not the mandatory shirt and school-tie combo we used to have to wear whilst at school-and watched the younger years collecting their merit and effort awards which I used to be so very proud of receiving, I couldn't help but feel a little sad that it was all over.
I wasn't there as a student, I was there as a highschool leaver, a spectator, a  simple relation of someone (my sister) who was part of this ceremony. In other words, I was no longer there as part of the school and that kind of felt strange. The feeling grew as me and my friends who were the Heads and Deputy Heads last year stood and handed over the badges to those who'd be taking on these roles now that we'd left. C'est fini.

Among all this nostalgia I began to think about my first year of highschool and how much things - and I - have changed since then and so I thought I'd write today about everything I'd tell my younger, first-year self as a now graduated highschool leaver.

1.Don't worry about making friends. You will eventually find people as crazy as you.

I can still feel the butterflies in my stomach, the dry mouth and the shaky hands as a tiny (I was quite small for my age to begin with) almost mute, brown-haired Mollie toddled into high-school for the first induction day. To make things worse for me, whilst everyone was there with friends from primary and their school jumpers, I was stood in a generic shirt and tie and I didn't know anyone because I had been home-taught for two years prior to highschool so I was truly terrified. I remember I ate lunch by myself in the canteen because I hadn't met anyone properly by that time and ended up not finishing it because I felt so sick from nerves until someone I'd met through a friend who moved away came and talked to me and introduced me to her friends. From then on I weaved in and out of various friend circles and made lots of new friends right up to 6th year where i became best friends with three crazy ladies I often mention in my blog - Kirsty, Iona and another Kirsty (chummy).

2. Don't forget to breathe.

 Apparently I was always desperate to go to school when I was little -nerd- and I've always loved learning and so I was all set for achieving my best at highschool but, the thing was, at highschool I began to realise that learning a lot can be quite difficult. And, as well all know, I'm not the most organised pickle in the pantry so as the workload increased at school, so did my stress levels as I desperately tried to get the best grades I possibly could. Luckily for me, the highschool on Arran has some amazing teachers and so help was always at hand and my parents have always been incredibly supportive no matter how I've done at school but I myself was never satisfied until I'd got an A. I can't count how many all-nighters I pulled for something as petty as an informal class test and how many tears fell on mountains of books that covered my bedroom floor around exam times. For me no test was "unimportant" and the idea of disappointing a teacher was unthinkable (could I make myself sound any cooler?) and so, if I could go back and visit first-year Mollie, I'd tell myself to lay off the pressure a little.

3. Don't leave everything to the last minute.

I don't know about you, but another reason I became so stressed around test times was because I had a terrible habit for leaving everything to the last minute. The only thing was though, as I mentioned before, I was not willing to settle for second best with my work which is why no matter how long I put off work, if staying up all night the week before a deadline to get it done was necessary, I'd do it. Not the most practical approach to life.

4. Don't wear flip-flops to school.

Enough said.

5. Don't compare your progress and your work to others'. 

This is something I think we are all guilty of in many aspects of life - work, relationships, appearence etc. - and it's not healthy. There's no point comparing yourself to others because no matter what, you're not them. You are not a clone and so you obviously don't have the same strengths and weaknesses and so any comparison you make to another person/people isn't valid because it isn't a fair judgment. I only did standard grade biology but I know what a fair experiment looks like.
Besides, when you stop focusing on what others are doing you can start focusing on what you're doing which is what will actually get you somewhere. During 5th year English, I used to always compare myself to the "cleverclogs" of the class which meant that no matter how much I progressed, in my eyes it wasn't good enough unless it was up to their standard. Until one day I thought, "right, well this isn't getting me anywhere, let's start focusing on my work and seeing how I can progress from my previous work" and after that, my grades literally got so much better until I managed to get one of the highest grades in the class in an essay. All because I stopped comparing myself to others and focused on my own work.

6. Don't be ashamed to be yourself.

From the first day of highschool I was very aware of what I did, said, wore and took part in because, like every teenager in highschool, I was just trying to fit in. This sometimes resulted in me feeling restricted on how much I could show others who I was for fear of judgment. But the thing is, who cares what somebody thinks? Does the fact that someone doesn't like your laugh make the joke any less funny? Is someone's opinion on your hair going to make it fall out? No. It has no impact whatsoever on you physically in anyway and so we should choose not to let it affect us mentally. Don't let anyone tell you not to be yourself. We're all designed to be unique in our own way and highschool is the perfect opportunity for you to begin to find yourself and your identity so make the most of it!

7. Do enjoy every moment of it.

There have been a lot of "don't"s so far in what I'd like to tell my younger self but at the end of the day, despite doing all of these things that on reflection I should have tried to avoid, I'm still here, I had fun, I got good grades and I have lots of happy memories. The point of highschool is not what you shouldn't do anyway, it's what you should do and what you can do. Highschool is where you can make some life-long friends, discover your likes and dislikes and opinions on the world, learn some amazing things and take some great opportunities. Sure there's pros and cons here and there but you never really appreciate what you have until it's gone. Now that I've left school I can really see what an amazing journey it has been with more wonderful memories than I can count on my fingers and toes. So if I could visit little nervous Mollie in her shirt and tie and blushing cheeks, I'd tell her the most important thing to do at highschool is treasure every moment of it.


Mollie
♥

What would you tell your younger self? Is there anything you would have done differently?

7 Things I Love About Summer

Hello everyone.

I hope you've had a lovely, sunny week! I also hope you had the chance to read my first post in the Mollie'sThoughts series (if you missed it then there is a link HERE) and enjoyed it. If you don't know what this series is, it is (going to be) a collection of posts where I talk about issues that I feel very strongly towards for example yesturday's was about being your own bestfriend. If you'd like to follow these posts, look for the titles containing "Mollie'sThoughts".

Now, back to this post. 7 Things I love about Summer. There are  of course lots more than just 7 things I love about summer but I don't want to keep you here all day so here are some of my favourite things about summer- in no particular order.

1. Summer clothing - namely dresses and playsuits.

(Clockwise: George at Asda, Primark, Ebay but maker is "Influence", George at Asda...cheap and cheerful. My kinda thing.)

I love that in the warm weather, dresses and playsuits become a practical item of clothing because I just love them! They keep you cooler whilst still looking stylish. I'm always on the look-out for new summer dresses and playsuits as I think they look cute and girly and can be dressed down for daytime and glammed-up for evenings. I am particularly fond of ones with prints on mine (if you can't already tell...).

2. Summer music

 I find that in the Summer months I tend to listen to music a lot more. I think it's because my taste in music is very swingy and summer-y anyway so the songs seem to fit the surroundings better in the summer. For me, there's nothing like listening to a bit of Eliza Doolittle whilst walking down the sun-streamed beach!

My personal favourite artists/songs include:
-Eliza Doolittle (all of her songs)
-Corinne Bailey Rae (all of her songs)
-Nicki Minaj: Starships
-Caro Emerald: Riviera Life
-A Fine Frenzy: What I Wouldn't Do
-Ariana Grande: The Way
- Taio Cruz: There She Goes
...to name but a few.

3. All the beautiful colours

I love seeing the grass look greener, the sky and sea looking bluer and the flowers looking brighter. It's a beautiful sight to behold and I can't resist taking a few snaps of the beautiful views and sights around Arran. Well, I say a few, but I often see something that catches my eye and end up taking about thirty photos of it - no exaggeration. Everything's just so gorgeous!

4. Waking up and going to bed with the sun still shining

I'm not one of these people who want to block out the light in the morning when I'm trying to have a lie-in or who curse the sun's brightness when trying to get to sleep. In fact, I'm quite the opposite! I love getting up early to watch the sun rise and I will happily have my curtains wide open whilst I'm trying to sleep. You see living in Scotland, we don't always get much sun so I always make sure to make the most of it. Also, there's nothing like waking up with the warmth of the suns rays tickling your nose.

5. Bright and pastel summer nail colours

Clockwise in top photo. MUA in Bold Blue, Coral colour from a Boots "Colour Unlimited" boxset, MUA in Ameretto Crush, Rimmel Lasting Finish in Pear Drop and OPI Nail Laquer from a special Spiderman edition boxset.

There's something about having coral, powder blue, mermaid green and peachy pink nails that just makes me so happy. I love Spring/Summer because the pastels and neons come out to play and though I'm a sucker for deep reds and auburns in the Autumn/Winter months, there's nothing like having a pop of colour on your pinkies. Unfortunately for me, we are not allowed to wear nail varnish where I work and so on my days off I make the most of it by throwing on some bold beauties.
My personal favourite look from the colours above is painting my ring finger nails in the Bold Blue by MUA and painting the rest of my nails in the coral colour from the Colour Unlimited set from Boots.

6. Beach days

There's nothing like kicking of your flip-flops and walking bare foot along the beach with the sand between your toes and the sea washing over your tired, warm feet. Or building sandcastles (you're never to old for a good sandcastle) and sand sculptures and burying your feet in the warm sand just to have your toes peep out whenever you wriggle them. Bliss. It's also great fun to swim in the sea in the summer because despite the often freezing temperatures of the water, it is often a refreshing and welcomed relief from the heat. But see if that seaweed comes anywhere near me...

7. Spending time with friends

Last, but definitely not least. I don't know about you but I always seem to be much more sociable during the summer months. I'm like a hedgehog who's come out of hibernation and is ready to mingle with my prickly friends though, I'm glad to say my friends are much smoother than your average hedgehog.
Wow. That got weird fast.
Anyway, my point is, there always seems to be so much more to do in summer and with the days getting longer there's all the more time to do these things. I'm privileged to have made some really great memories already this summer and I am treasuring every moment of them. My time with my friends is all the more important to me just now because pretty soon they'll be leaving the island and going off to do their own thing whether that be uni, college, a job etc. whilst I'm staying put - or at least that's the plan just now.
I've been blessed with some truly amazing friends and I cannot express how much I love and cherish them being in my life.

***

So that's everything I love about summer in a nutshell! Well, my main favorites anyway! I'd love to hear your top 7 favourite things about summer too! Feel free to leave a comment telling me yours.
Until next week, I hope you have a great couple of days and make many happy memories.

Mollie

♥

Highschool Memories

Hello everyone.

How have you been spending your week? I’ve spent mine chilling out, studying and planning for the future. I’ve also spent a large proportion of my time wondering around the house thinking “what should I do?!”. This has been my first week of no-school since leaving (read about my last day HERE) and it’s fair to say I am missing the structure of a school day. It’s so easy to get distracted at home and for plans to be delayed with the excuse, “I have plenty of time”. Deary me. I’ve decided I’m going to take the necessary measures and begin scheduling my day more effectively and sticking to that schedule. I hope this is just a phase.

In other news I found out this week that I have in fact got the job I applied for! Yay! This means I can spend my summer waitressing with three of my best friends.

Anyway, to the point of this post, I would like to share with you my experience and memories from my time at Arran High School.

I began my first year of high school in 2007. This was a terrifying time for me as I was not only entering into a new school but I was entering into school itself. I was home-schooled with my two sisters from primary six to primary seven so I had not experienced being in a school building and learning with people other than my sisters and parents for two years. Scary stuff. I remember on the three full practice days at high school when everyone else was dressed in their primary school uniform I was dressed in a white shirt feeling very out of place. I also remember for the first time hearing someone from my old primary swear and being shocked to the core. How innocent I was.

Luckily for me I managed to make friends quite quickly as most of the girls in my year were lovely and welcoming. I remember that we all used to meet at the front of the high school in the morning and the boys would all meet a few feet away from us (I mean, they wouldn’t want to catch our girl-germs would they?) and whenever someone arrived, we would all hug them as though we hadn’t just seen them the day before.

“Darling it’s been so long…*kiss kiss*”

My first-year of high school went pretty well and I met lots of friends who are some of my best-friends today. My class was also the first first-year class in the new high school which was built just behind the old (very old) one.

   

My second-year was very much the same; me and my friends spent our lunch-times on the swings or slide outside whilst taking lots of photos, I got into bother about wearing various scarves and necklaces in an attempt to jazz-up my uniform, I was still very shy and quiet when not around my best friends and boys were still an un-known species. Me and my friends also took part in the school's Stars In Their Eyes contest as "Girls Aloud plus 1". I can't believe we had the courage to do that back then!

Third-year was when we got to choose some of our subjects for the first time. It was in my third-year that I got to take business management for the first time and met the very inspiring and lovely teacher of that subject. That was also the year that I first took part in one of the school shows. It was We Will Rock You and me and some of my friends were in the chorus so we were on stage a lot with lots of different costumes. I absolutely loved it and have taken part in every school show since: Midsummer Nights Dream, Wizard of Oz and this year’s Importance of Being Earnest.

Fourth-year was when I had my first proper boyfriend. He was called Robbie and we went out for 6 months. I also experienced exams for the first time with my Standard Grades and despite all the sleepless nights and tears, I didn't do too badly!

I uploaded my first Youtube video in fourth-year too.

Fifth-year was the year of the “real” exams though-Highers and Intermediate 2s. I took Higher Art and Design, Business Management, Graphic Communication and English and Intermediate 2 Maths. With a lot of hard work I managed to achieve 3 As in Art, Business Management and English, a B in Graphcom at Higher and an A in my Intermediate 2 Maths.

This was also the year that I feel I began to find myself as a person and realise my love for film-making. My confidence grew a little more in fifth-year and I applied to become a prefect. However, to my utter disappointment, I wasn’t successful.

In sixth-year I re-applied and this time I was successful! I also applied for the role of Head Girl and after an interview stage I was made Deputy Head Girl and one of my current best-friends was made Head Girl! That more than made up for being turned down as a prefect in fifth-year to me.

This year, me and my best-friend set up a Scripture Union group in our school with the help of our other best-friend (Miss Head Girl who I previously mentioned) which has been a goal of mine since I was little. It turned out to be successful and I’m hoping to continue supporting it during my gap year!

I also had the amazing opportunity to take part in a short-film with my friends in our Island’s McLellan Festival. I got to learn some film-production skills, use film equipment and act as the character Rosalind in the film. It was truly amazing to be a part of. My name suggestion for the film title also ended up being the chosen one!

Now here I am a week on from my last day of school. It really has been the best time of my life so far and I have so many amazing memories. I also have some truly amazing friendships which I am so grateful for.

Now I can’t wait for my class’ Leavers Do Party in June!

I hope you’ve all had a lovely week and I’d love to hear some of your memories from high school in the comments!

Mollie

♥

Finding Home

Hello again!

Firstly, thank you all for your support and lovely comments on my last post. It was so encouraging! And a big thank you to Fiona from Scottish Island Mum who encouraged me to start a blog in the first place.

I mentioned on my last update that I live on the lovely Isle of Arran and thought I’d share the story of how me and my family came to live here as I like to think it’s quite amazing.

I’ve lived on Arran since I was 7 years old; we were destined to live here as my parents have always loved Scotland and even eloped to get married here. They said that when they had a family, Scotland would be the place they’d like to live.

Fast-forward a few years and there are my two younger sisters (aged about 3 and 5) and me (about 6). Now that my parents had a family they began to think seriously about moving to Scotland.

Now around this time they decided to buy a new car for my mum (this is relevant I promise) and amazingly after buying the car they realised that the license plate included “ARR4N”. No. Really! They had been thinking about Arran as a place to live around that time so this was truly amazing.

A few months later and my parents, sisters and me all embarked on the long drive to Arran and loved it from the moment we stepped off the ferry-even my little 3 year old sister. I remember on this visit that we found a go-cart track and went cycling through Brodick-me and my dad on a tandem (with me just sitting on the back, my legs dangling above the pedals) and my mum cycling with my two sisters attached to her bike on a little cart. I was sold. I would have moved right there and then!

(From left: Me, Emily, Megan and Mum behind us)

(Us with dad)

On returning from our first visit we had already grown attached to this beautiful little island and going back to England didn’t feel like we were going “home”; it felt as though we were driving away from it.

A few more visits by my parents and they grew more and more in love with the island and more determined to move here and overcome any obstacles that might arise.

After visiting one of the island’s attractions my mum thought long and hard about our potential move and prayed about it asking "Is it the right thing to do?" as they pulled out of the car park. To her amazement when they began down the road a car drove past with the license plate including the word “YES”. Once again, not kidding! We seem to have a thing with taking advice from license plates.

After this miraculous happening things just fell into place. My dad who works as an IT Consultant managed to get permission to home-work from the island (after going through almost all the levels of management), my parents found our first house and despite the housing market at that time forcing properties to be sold up to 40% over the asking price, they managed to buy the one we wanted for less than the asking price. Another cool coincidence (or as we like to think, a nudge from God) was that as me and my sisters were only just beginning school we’d need to find a suitable one on the island and even though my parents visited one during the Easter holidays, the moment they arrived the Head Teacher walked out and so she could answer their questions there and then. This is the primary me and my sisters ended up attending and led us to find some really amazing friends who we’re still close to.

We like to think that us moving to Arran wasn’t just a coincidence or good timing, but that God intended for us to live here. And I’m so glad He did! 10 years on and I love the Island just as much as when I first saw that go-kart track. It’s strange to think that I’m now in my last year of high school and will soon be leaving here. I couldn’t have asked for a better place to live. One thing is for sure though, when birthdays and Christmas’ arrive I will have no hesitations in returning to this humble little beautiful island.

Mollie

♥